The new plan which came into effect on April 1, has two parts: 50% of the incentive will depend on the performance of the individual and his team.Anirban Sen | ET Bureau | Updated: June 20, 2016, 08:28 IST

India’s third largest software exporter Wipro has overhauled its incentive structure for top executives at the company and completely done away with the previous account-based incentive structure, as part of a broader strategy to regain growth momentum and revive growth.

As part of the new structure, Wipro is placing an equal amount of importance on both individual performances as well as the overall company’s performance, as it urges top executives and employees to collaborate more closely and work as a cohesive unit.

“Our incentive structure has undergone a fundamental shift. We have done away with the previous account-based structure. The new plan which came into effect on April 1, has two parts: 50% of the incentive will depend on the performance of the individual and his team while the balance 50% is linked to the performance of the organization,” said Wipro president and chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil in an interview in early June.

The overhaul comes at a time when the broader $160-billion IT industry is taking a fresh look at traditional metrics and benchmarks previously taken into account to reward employees - which has for the better part of the last two decades seen revenue growth directly linked to manpower addition.

With automation kicking in and the advent of non-linear revenue growth - where revenue growth has been de-linked from manpower addition due to the emergence of technologies such as cloud computing - some of the traditional metrics used to measure employee performance, such as the “bell curve” appraisal system, are increasingly being abandoned.

Over the course of the past year, India’s top three IT firms, TCS, Infosys and Wipro have abandoned bell curve appraisals.

“The central idea behind this shift is that not only do we want individuals and their teams to win but their victories should contribute to the success of the organization. To use a cricketing analogy, a century makes sense only if it helps the team win,” said Govil, who joined Wipro in 2009 from GE Healthcare.

Under the previous incentive structure, Wipro rewarded employees and executives based on the performance of a particular client account and not that of a particular business vertical or horizontal. Under that structure, managers were also rewarded on four parameters-revenue growth, profit growth, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.

The new structure is different from the previous one, as the emphasis on performances of individual client accounts has been ditched and greater importance has been placed on employees working closely as a team.

“We believe that the new structure will further underscore the importance of collaborative behaviour and bring teams together to work towards a common goal. Simply put, we are not looking for individual heroes. We want a team of champions,” said Govil.

The new structure will be applicable to CEO Abidali Neemuchwala, his direct reports and a level below them across verticals and horizontals, said Govil. The overhaul comes at a time when Wipro is desperately trying to stay relevant as a top-tier outsourcing firm for clients and resuscitate its flagging fortunes. In 2015-16 financial year, Wipro grew revenues at a meagre 3.7% and conceded further market share to rivals such as Infosys, TCS and US-based Cognizant.

Under Neemuchwala, Wipro is attempting to orchestrate a turnaround in its fortunes, amid a large-scale organizational overhaul. “Now it is about striking the right balance between the individual and his or her team’s performance with that of the larger organization. Both are equally critical,” said Govil